This One Goes to 11

I'll admit, it has been a long time since I have really focused on music. The past few years have pretty much killed my desire to seek out new and interesting music on a regular basis. Now I find myself in the "what happened to the good music" camp also know as the "Remember when SNL wasn't a 90 minute Democratic National Committee campaign ad Committee." But I digress.

As per a request from Lovey, I managed to compile a short list of new and/or semi-new music I listen to pretty much exclusively lately.

In no particular order they are:

Open Hand ,You and me - their last album was released in 2005, I found it early 2006 and it hasn't left my car since. Driving rock with strong Melody but kind of dark like Queens of the Stone Age meets the Mamas and the Papas.

Silversun Pick Ups, Carnavas - You have probably heard "Lazy Eye". The album reflects that style throughout. More driving guitars and some darkness (are you catching onto a theme here?) but it comes off sort of sunny... much like the Nightmare Before Christmas.

The Color Fred , Bend to Break - no kidding, i found this one today. I'm going to buy it on the way home from work. It's a little more upbeat than what I'm used to but it's catchy. I'm too old to go to see these kinds of bands in concert as Security will usually point me to the parents waiting room on the way in but I can rock it in the car for sure. Fred was the guitarist for Taking Back Sunday, and it sounds alot like Dashboard Confessional without all the 14 year old girls screaming the lyrics behind you.

Band of Horses, Cease to Begin - I came across these guys by accident. They have a song called "The Great Salt Lake" that I couldn't get enough of when I heard it. I'd recommend either of their albums, but Cease to Begin is the better of the two. The lead singer's voice may take some getting used to... give it a couple of listens and I think it'll grow on you. Listen to "Is There a Ghost", then "no One's Ever Gonna Love You" (but don't watch the videos, they're dumb).


That's pretty much my library right now except a couple of mix tapes I made like 4 years ago and Drew's Halloween Party Songs for Kids. So you can imagine how excited I will be when the rest of you have recommendations for all of us!

PS - I did attend a concert recently where I heard some fantastic new music in the beautiful settings of the largest man made waterfall west of the Mississippi. And I am anxiously awaiting their arrival in CD or MP3 formats (I'm looking at you Bart Fargo...)

Anyhoo, discuss....

The Greatest Story Ever Told

I am not sure if any of you have ever seen this, but it is exactly the kind of fodder that would have been guaranteed a full evening at the 'Couch even in the most sour of times.

Can anyone imagine a greater movie viewing experience than this? A full-length, feature film starring Evel Knievel ABOUT Evel Knievel where-in Evel Knievel jumps over fire, pops wheelies, melts an icy feminist with his rough-n-tumble yet smooth charm, dries up his drunken bike tech and reunites him with his estranged son, foils a plot to smuggle drugs from Mexico, brings toys to orphaned children, spreads his message of love and goodwill to all men from the banks of the Mississippi to the markets of Tijuana, and does everything else short of parting the Red Sea and delivering the Children of Israel from captivity. Does it get any better?

IT DOES! Because not only do you get Evel, EVEL, EVEL!!!! for two straight hours, but an all-star supporting cast that includes a pre-Xanadu Gene Kelly as the hooch-guzzling mechanic, Lauren Hutton as the journalist who's heart he wins, Marjoe Gortner as the young punk trying to steal Evel's thunder, Leslie Nielson as the drug lord trying to use Evel's rig as a Mexican drug mule, Cameron "the guy who was Commander Santa Clause in Space Mutiny" Mitchell as one of the drug lord's henchman, and Red Buttons as a crooked promoter trying to skim from the top of Evel's draw.

Honestly, a motion picture this perfect almost recalls the bliss one might feel watching the Chuck Norris trucking/karate/saga "Breaker Breaker", or even, dare I say it, "Convoy" starring Kris Kristoferson. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wish you never threw away that cool Evel Knievel motorcycle toy that was so cool in the 70's.

It IS available through NetFlix, but why only rent it when you can relive it over and over again by purchasing it? I can guarantee, it will be the best 10 bucks you ever spent.

The Dude is not in...

Leave a message...

*beep*

Minimal Effort. Maximum Results

I'm feeling like I'm neglecting the couch a bit - no posts in a few days - so here's a bone I guess. These are fairly entertaining when they make an effort.

Dundies All Star

Secret Agent Michael Scarn came by and dropped off something special for m'lady. Thought you might appreciate this. Now I know she won't hang herself out of lack of recognition.

Great Success!!!

Water Broken, Baby Coming!

I'll keep you posted!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ohh! Shiny things!

I love kinetic typography.

Bet you weren't expecting me to say THAT sentence, were you?




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Say, That Reminds Me...

Today's earlier post reminded me of my all-time favorite cover band...

LEZ ZEPPLIN!!!



See more here


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This is why the interwebs were created

Well, except for all the naked stuff.



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Count Me In on McCain!!!

Since the last post was about drummers, I thought I would throw this into the ring. The great Terry Bozzio sent this piece of film to my buddy Victor, who sent it over to me this morning. SHAZAM! Just goes to show you that all you need for killer chops is a couple of years in a Viet Kong torture camp. You gotta know that if he can play like this, Palin must have amazing bass-slapping skills!

You're Being Very Unnnduuude...

From Wired.com

Ringo Starr Is Officially Over Fan Mail and Autograph Requests
By Eliot Van Buskirk October 14, 2008 | 9:44:32

Underrated Beatles drummer Ringo Starr has finally had it with reams of fan mail and heaps of objects that are apparently still being sent to him to be signed, 45 years after the first signs of Beatlemania appeared in the population.

From the tone of the video uploaded to his site, it's a wonder he's been such a sport about it up until now, especially since some of that stuff is no doubt being sold on eBay by professional autograph seekers.

"This is a serious message to everybody watching my update right now," intones Starr in the short video. "Peace and love, peace and love. I want to tell you, please, after the 20th of October, do not send fan mail to any address that you have.

"Nothing will be signed... I'm warning you with peace and love, but I have too much to do, so no more fan mail, thank you, thank you, and no objects to be signed, nothing. Anyway, peace and love, peace and love."

You can officially forget about sending memorabilia for Ringo to sign, but that's not because he's severing ties with the outside world -- most likely, his signing hand is just finally cramping up. Starr is currently accepting entries for a photo contest, with the subject being his latest tour.

The winner will receive an autographed Ringo Starr drum head.



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Eastbound and Down

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Hello MC from LA. I am blogging from Century City-- where I can re-live my dream of being Laura Holt from "Remington Steele." Can't believe I'm actually blogging while on the road...Scottie- What have you done to me??

Well, today was unbelievable and I just needed to share what happened with the couch.

I had a meeting this morning with a gentleman from Paramount Studios. His father used to attend Duke Law and this gentleman wants to make a gift in honor of his father. The Dean had asked me to follow-up with him. All I really knew going into the meeting was that he produced "Bull Durham"-- and since I think I am the token sports fan of the couch some of you may not have seen this but it is definitely one of the best sports movies of all time. It was filmed in my new hometown of Durham and is well-loved here.

We start chatting about movies, etc and he tells me that he was the head of Universal Studios at the age of 26 and produced the following films:

Animal House
Scarface
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Monty Python's Meaning of Life
Coal Miner's Daughter
Can't Buy Me Love
The Breakfast Club

and yes,.....SMOKEY And the BANDIT!!! I about fell out of my chair. He talked about how important Jerry Reed's song was for the whole film and how he intentionally released it early (which I guess you didn't do in Hollywood at the time). It was totally fascinating and all I could think about was letting the MC know. I feel like I'm in some sort of Man's Couch Vortex (not the club/cages)...it's like everywhere I turn I'm either seeing flashes of the past or things I can't wait to share in the present. IT ROCKS!!






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You aren't going to believe this, couch...

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That's what she said- Star Wars edition

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So, I am sitting on the John, reading the Spring+Summer 2008 edition of "New Parent" Magazine, trying to read up on what is going to be expected of me as the due date for my daughter looms near. I turn the page and I see this ad for pregnancy portraits. Instantly the MST3K portion of my brain kicks in and I say "Hey, that guy looks just like Scooch!" I look again, and think, wait a minute, that looks just like Jamie! I look again, and realize.....IT IS SCOOCH AND JAMIE!!!! I run down stairs to show the muse and we both have a hearty WTF moment and chuckle. I scanned it so you could see for yourself!

Now, I understand that the Man's Couch is normally a forum for the more obscure, random, and hilarious. But after all, it is called THE MAN'S COUCH. What could be more of a show of one's masculinity than embracing Fatherhood and being a supportive EC to the poor unfortunate woman who decided to take you on? I for one applaud our humble moderator for laying aside his inner-Homer Simpson to not only step up to the paternal plate, but broadcast to the world that he is doing so.

The men of this Couch are a rare breed. None of us are the smelly T-shirt variety guy that hangs out at corner pubs called "Jimmy's 331", watches football to excess, calls his wife "my old lady", tries to hide his penile insecurity from the world by cursing, driving a large truck, and watchin' porno, and would rather be in the company of other dudes eating chicken wings from a can than with their families. No, the men of this 'Couch (as well as our honorary male compadre that happens to be female,) could more easily wax on about the films of Coleman Francis and the musical genius that IS Leo Sayer than give one opening line-up of any major sports team, ant that's the way we like it. An important credo of the couch was always "Ho's before Bro's", and I will forever be the first one to say I love my ho even mo every day!

Now, let's all get hopped up on Red Bull and play ping pong while we try to belch the alphabet!
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Oh Caaaaanadaaaa!

So take off, eh?
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So many social engagememts, so little time...

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Man's Couch Music

Truly, I have not spent much time with sites like YouTube. Until now I've just had better things to do. So if you have already experienced the awesomeness of literal video I apologize.





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Stuff Man's Couch Liked: #2 MST

So...MST. I have now joined the vast throngs of people who love NetFlix and have discovered a plethora of MST's out there that I have never seen. I am expecting "Prince of Space" in my mailbox soon and thought I should write a brief post of thanks for all that is MST. Dean-o even sent me a message about "Angel's Revenge" which I still have on VHS and have not watched in ages. "For Lancome and Isabella Rosellini!!"

Not sure we watched a ton of MST on the Couch but for some reason I have a recollection that once I knew Dennis loved MST we would be fast friends and I think I actually met Kev at an MST viewing party at my house?

I would love it if all of you would post a few of your favorites so I can add them to my queue. I'm trying to introduce some of my friends here to their glory!



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So long... again

Word on the street that Berke Breathed, creator of Bloom County, Outland, and Opus, is set to retire once again. This time, however, it looks like it might stick.

This makes me sad.






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Disneyworld and an Ipod

Citizens of the 'Couch are no strangers to the fact that I am a certifiable, undeniable, no holds barred Disney freak; particularly when it comes to the parks. Some of my earliest memories are of my dad rummaging through the Coupon Book searching for enough E-Tickets to get my sisters and I on the Jungle Cruise as the scent of popcorn wafted through air littered with Mickey-shaped balloons. Delicious.

My muse and I did practically all our dating and courtship at Disneyland, and even honeymooned at Disneyworld. This is the first time in our marriage that we have not been in close proximity to a Park, and I am having severe symptoms of Disney Deficiency.

With this in mind, and noting that I have been more times that I can even count, I would like to share something we discovered a couple of visits ago. All you need is a One-to-Four Day Passport to The Happiest Place on Earth, two sets of headphones, a splitter, and an 80-gig Ipod.

Long lines are always shorter when you play classic games like "Disney Character 20-Questions" or "Top 5 Disney Films by Category." But after the FastPasses have run out and you are looking at a wait of over an hour, nothing beats watching "Meet The Robinsons" as you nudge slowly along through the cue. Having said that, I have ridden many of these rides enough that I know every line and turn blindfolded; so adding your own soundtrack has a way of adding a new dimension to how the ride is experienced.

We even have a play-list based on each ride, as follows:

Expedition: Everest - "Neuroliptika" by Janus (think German techno-scream-metal a-la Rammstein. Dancy speed metal is the perfect companion to a killer coaster.)

It's A Small World - "Miss Sarajevo" by U2, followed by "Common People" by William Shatner

Space Mountain - "The Party's Over" by TV Eyes, OR "Beautiful Spain" by Venus Hum, OR "I Ran" by A Flock of Seaguls

Tunder Mountain Railroad - "East-Bound and Down" by Jerry Reed (goes without saying, really.)

Pirates of the Carribean - "Whiskey in the Jar" by Metallica

Autopia - "Cars" by Gary Numan

Soarin' Over California - "Learn to Fly" by either Foo Fighters or Pink Floyd (both work well.)

The Haunted Mansion - "No One Lives Forever" by Oingo Boingo

California Screamin' - "Hot for Teacher" or "Unchained" by Van Halen

Splash Mountain - "Big Time Sensuality" by Bjork (incidentally, there is an awesome Companion Restroom just off of Splash Mountain at The Magic Kingdom at WDW that you can lock from the inside. Great for use in making it an even more magical experience for you and your -shall we say- ride partner. Conceived our daughter there.)

Be sure the volume is loud enough that it drowns out the audio from each ride, and you have animatronics singing the words with you (sometimes it is a little scary how well things sync up; almost a Wizard of Floyd kinda thing.)

Or, experiment 'till you find the right one! Try it, it's fun!

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10 Life Lessons from the Pork Chop Express

10. Oh, gosh. Cash I guess. I mean, it's not deductable, is it?

9. Play your cards right, you live to talk about it.

8. Just remeber what old Jack Burton does when the earth quakes and the poison arrows fall out of the sky and the pillars of heaven shake. Jack Burton just looks that big 'ol storm in the eye and says "Give me your best shot, pal. I Can take it"

7. I was born ready

6. You got a tongue, Dave. Ask her yourself.

5. I took something. I can see things no one else can see.

4. Have you paid your dues, Jack? Yessir! The Check is in the mail!

3. It's all in the reflexes.

2. Son of a b**ch must pay!

1. Would you stop rubbing your body up against mine? Because I can't concentrate when you do that.
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Everywhere and 'round the world...

We watched "The Jazz Singer" this past weekend, it being an interesting supplement to the usual enlightenment one normally gets from watching General Conference.

After all, who among us hasn't felt ostracized by our ultra strict and orthodox Jewish father when we told him we were moving to Venice beach to record some schmaltzy middle of the road songs and have an affair with Lucille Arnaz? Which of us hasn't donned blackface to sing in a quartet called "The Four Brothers," only to get called out by a pre Ghostbusters Ernie Hudson for being a "white boy," and then starting a fist fight? And tell me you've never grown a beard and hitchiked your way across the Southwest, performing "You are my sunshine" in cowboy bars while wearing a hat that's much too small for your enormous hair?

That's right: we've all been there.

I hadn't seen this movie since I was a kid, and I must confess that I loved the soundtrack at that young age. Truth be told, there are still many of the songs that I know by heart, whether it be the anthemic "America," the mournful "Love on the Rocks," or the saccharine "Hello Again."

Seeing the film as an adult allowed me to see it in a different perspective than when I was 8. The most obvious moment was the scene where everyone parties it up at Lucille Arnaz's beachside pad, joyfully singing about "The Robert E. Lee."

First of all, this may very well be the lamest party scene ever committed to film. There's a couple of unkempt white guys with banjos, four black guys, Neil Diamond, and one woman. That doesn't even work on paper, folks. Not to mention the fact that they're singing a song whose namesake is the most famous Confederate general.

And will someone please tell me what cosmic lottery Lucille Arnaz lost that forced her to have a love scene with Neil? I mean...were the 80's really THAT hairy? I'm surprised the fire in the fireplace didn't ignite all the Aquanet and Drakkar that must have been permeating that scene.

I will say this, however: I demand that more rock stars employ the sequined pirate shirt with white scarf look. More, I say!

Stuff Man's Couch Liked: #1 Chuck Heston

Hello boys! Did you miss me? Here it is...my first post to a blog ANYWHERE and I think it highly fitting that it is for Man's Couch Revisisted. For my inaugural post, I thought I would imitate the format of two of my favorite blogs: Stuff White People Like and Stuff Mormons Like. I thought it would inspire some of us down memory lane and we could also include new items that we have grown to love as our lives have moved forward (ie The Office.)

So...I had to start with Chuck Heston. I know that Dennis and I had a moment of silence when he died, and I hugged my Planet of the Apes doll tightly as I thought of all of his amazing movies that we enjoyed on the Couch...I mean, who could forget the Furniture Girls?? Soylent Green is PEOPLE! The horrible cheesey goodness of "Earthquake" and his chest in the Planet of the Apes(oh...maybe that was just me)

So now that the Couch is back together may I humbly offer a word of thanks to Chuck Heston...long may he reign in the heart of gun-toting Americans everywhere and may he haunt Michael Moore forever!

Is that you?

Hey, remember when Dave Letterman was funny? I do!

Noble Birthright?

The folks are in town and I took them to see the Studebaker Museum in South Bend.  Loved it, and I love even more that they had the unfortunate remains of the original car that Fozzie's hibernating uncle loaned him so Kermit and he could get to Hollywood.  You know, all the music in "The Muppet Movie" is so amazing simply because it was written by Paul Williams.  Just goes to show that there is life beyond "Smokie and the Bandit."

Just got home from going to the Priesthood session of Conference with my dad (I figure that since we are all Men here, and we all know where we came from, it is safe to bring religion into this.) As much as I love Conference and am secure in my faith, sometimes you have to ask yourselves a simple question: why were so many of The Brethren raised on farms?

Don't get me wrong; I will sustain and defend till the day I die and beyond, and by no means am I making light, but was there some kind of ethic instilled in the youth of the rural farming concern of the pre-War era that inspired a boom the production of future G.A.'s? You kind of have to wonder what the Conference Talks are going to sound like when we are going to Priesthood Sessions with our sons ("One summer my father gave me the stewardship of overseeing our family's thriving dot-com and investing the proceeds into a high-yield money market account. Having recently been ordained a Deacon..." No, how about "Before our Missions, my pal Dan and I worked together at Abercrombie...")

One thing is for sure, though the attire may be right, today's Deacons might take heed from the proceedings today, otherwise they will end up like these saps:

Bloom County warned us about this! Dunno, my hotness is waiting for me and I need sleep. 

The Captain of the Couch Needs an Avatar

My new saying around the office is "Pick it up and put it in your pocket, dude!" It is a shame that our moderator has no visual identity. Put this in your pocket and make it rock.



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I'm not as creative as the rest of you dolts...

I take my job as moderator seriously... becasue Im not as creative as the rest of you. Someone's got to be the sourpuss, right? Ok not really. But in the spirit af creative theivery, enjoy:



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The first time is always a little scary

So there's the usual amount of performance anxiety associated with an inaugural post like this; the sort of "shoot, I hope I don't screw this up and look like an idiot in front of everyone" fear that is usually reserved for chainsaw jugglers, game show contestants, and the odd politician.

But then I remember who I'm talking to here, and the fear melts away like Richard Simmons' dignity during a taping of the Late Show with David Letterman. "These guys are my boys," I remind myself, "my homies, they'll understand." (Except I don't really say "homies" in my head. Even I know I can't pull off street talk, even in private.)

And yet, here I am, a full two paragraphs into this, and I still haven't decided what to say. In the absence of anything really substantial, maybe I'll just share the dream I had the other night that has caused me literally minutes' worth of reflection.

I dreamed I was directing Jurassic Park IX: Dinosaurs on Patrol, except in this version it was the dinosaurs who were real, and the humans were CGI. I was on a giant green screen stage, trying to film a scene wherein a T-Rex was to come in and eat a human. The lighting had been set, the stage was quiet, and I yelled "Action!"

The T-Rex came stomping in, right on cue, roaring and snarling and generally causing a ruckus. He stomped over to his mark, opened his mighty jaws, and was about to devour the human, when he suddenly stopped. He leaned back on his scaly haunches and shook his head.

"No, no, no," he said, talking for all the world like Michael Caine. "It's just not working. Can we cut?"

"Cut!" I yelled, and walked over to him. "What's the matter, love?" I asked. (Apparently I was British as well in this dream)

"Well, just look at it," he said, gesturing towards the 'human' he was supposed to eat. "It's not really a human, is it? I mean, it's just a bloody tennis ball on a stick!"

"Of course it is," I nodded. "That's a reference point so we can CGI in the human later."

"That's the real trick, isn't it?" He huffed, attempting to light a cigarette with his tiny, misshapen forearms. "You're not giving me too bloody much to work with here, are you?" He flailed his arms about, indicating the green screen set, and scattering ashes here and there.

"You're supposed to be an actor," I said, "use your imagination."

He turned to the makeup girl, who had appeared to remove the sheen on his forehead. "Use your imagination, he says," he laughed. "Can you believe this?"

The makeup girl wisely kept quiet. The T-Rex turned back to me.

"Look, mate, I've worked with DeNiro AND Pacino, so don't presume to tell ME how to bloody well act!" He grunted angrily and stomped off to his trailer.

I woke up shortly thereafter. I remember feeling angry that he was putting the production behind schedule and possibly over budget. Lord of the thunder lizards, perhaps, but that's no excuse to be a diva, am I right?

The Miracle of Time/Life

I friggin' love Time/Life Infomercials; particularly the ones where they are schlepping music collections of any kind using some haggard looking shell of a former superstar from the genre each represents.

You got your "Best of Country Love Songs" one with Glen Campbell, "Best Rock Ballads" with Kevin Cronin from 'Speedwagon, "70's Music Explosion" featuring Barry "Greg Brady" Williams, "Sprirt of the 60's" with Peter Fonda, and this one -my personal favorite- "Soft Rock Hits" with Air Supply. The words "I can't believe I'm here with Air Supply!!!" will forever race through my mind as something that could be both a declaration of joy or a sorrowful pining of regret, and it gets funnier every time I hear it! My wife and I got hooked on these things while channel surfing at night before bed, and it came to a point where we were addicted.

Not only do many of the songs awaken memories of my California childhood, the footage of each artist performing their tune when it was a hit is priceless, and the "stars" they have reading cue cards and trying their best to sound excited about it are so awesome! "Really, these songs remind me of driving on a smooth summer day as I head to the mall for my next gig" or "Wow, it is so amazing that Time/Life has saved us from the task of looking up all these songs on the internet and downloading them for free!" or "It's so great to hear that song again after the years have wiped it clean from my memory.....and now it's back....again....to haunt me...."

Gotta say the Soft Rock one is my fave if only because Air Supply is so collectively bad at reading their lines, and the film of overly-unattractive one-hit-wonders like Benny Mardones, Gino Vanelli, Leo Sayer, and Rupert Holmes is enough to make you yearn for the days when radio was successful of letting you hear the song rather than see the performer. Amazing.

Our obsession with these multi-song masterpieces stems from an era early in our marriage when there was a channel on LA basic cable called B-Mania (seriously, 24-hours a day of nothing but painfully bad movies? Do the words 'dream come true' mean anything to anyone?) The channel had only two sponsors and ran both commercials every 10 minutes: one for inflatable massage boots, and one for The Best of Conway Twitty. The wife and I ended up buying that one. Now we hunt the airwaves searching for anything resembling a 20-CD collection of original hits by the original artists, just for the entertainment value. I guess you can never have too many collections featuring hits by the Bay City Rollers on them. Luckily, most of them do.

It All Started on Caprica

From the muddy banks of the Wabash to the musty foothills of the Wasatch, it is good to be back on the 'Couch! IF there was some kind of hierarchy to the madness of the Man's Couch's Salad Days, Scutch -your moderator- was the Captain of the Couch; the Sinatra of our Rat Pack, the Tyler Duerdon of our Fight Club, the Russel Hammond of our Stillwater. It is therefor with a great sense of humility and flatulence that I accept the invitation, as the Sammy Davis Jr. to his Sinatra, to contribute to this musing of manhood and media.

In times like these it is essential to remember that it all began with the lot of us (there were 5 in the beginning,) being too loser-ey to attract real females (I had been stood up by some skank from the Avenues, Scott's lady had just left for a Mission, and Dennis and his cousins were up to their normal evening sulk.) Somehow we ended up being at the Dennis Pad at the same time, and it was suggested that an unhealthy dose of Papa John's and Coke accompany a viewing of one of the nerdiest of film selections: the original "Battlestar Galactica" pilot/movie.

Now, bear in mind, this is not the edgy version we see today (that I could totally care less about, BTW.) Starbuck was still a dude, Boomer was still black, Adama was still Pa Cartright, and Cylons were not hot blondes. No CGI, no Edward James Almos, and no overly-confusing plot lines. Just stuff blowing up, a pre-"A-Team" Dirk Benedict, overly dramatic acting, and lots of Mormon innuendo. Loved it when I was 6, still do today.

At any rate, that first fateful meeting of the minds combined to make our little "Manly Home Evening" an institution that would go on to be the stuff that legends were made of. I'm just glad that everyone else (or maybe just Scuddy,) has good memories of it too, or at least, how it began. In the end, it wandered away from its pure intentions of a bunch of guys getting together to exercise their inner (and in some cases, overly-outer,) geek by watch obscure sci-fi, imitating the Rat Pack, writing songs about girls who hate them, and eating junk food. It later got bogged down in the mire of jealousy, back-biting, too many chicks, and a midget lesbian; but by no means am I blaming all of that for the dismantling of the Man's Couch.

No, I think it disbanded simply because most of us just out-grew it; like that favorite pair of underpants or that band you used to think was so amazing. Scutch's amazingly-cool best pal introduced him to his soul-mate (and y'all who have been reading this blog know how that turned out,) Dennis -the Deano of the gang- got married and now takes photos of marriages, Brooke found love and is now MIA in Utah someplace, Kris works at some major university, and the cousins....I am pretty sure are still the cousins. As for me, I moved to LA to exercise my rock star demons and flee a relationship based on mistrust, and ended up meeting the woman of my dreams. We are 4 weeks and 10cm away from having our first child (the feminine-kind,) living in Indiana, and loving every minute of it.

But, as the faded white leather of the original couch is long gone and I am not sure what happened to that Fat Elvis tapestry that hung like a specter over every meeting, we can at least let the testosterone flow through our finger tips and muse about whatever it is that is making that lingering hint of the original Man's Couch spirit within us tingle like so much Spidey Sense, right here on this Blog, baby! Cheers be to Scott for reviving this, you can count on me to crap out whatever I can; whether it be MASH trivia or the subtleties of the films of Coleman Francis. To any who read, EXCELSIOR!!

-Fargo